Victoria police have recently intercepted some viruses that infiltrated their road safety cameras. As a consequence, they suspect 55 of their traffic cameras to have gone rogue and messed the system. One of the solutions was to cancel 590 fines that were issued this month. The culprit behind this situation seems to be a WannaCry ransomware.
A WannaCry Ransomware Involves Getting Data Encrypted and Unlocked Only in Exchange for a BitCoin Payment
On Thursday, the Department of Justice and Regulation announced that RedFlex, the private camera operator, was one of the victims of WannaCry ransomware. The declaration claimed that this unauthorized infiltration into digital system happened because of human error. Even though viruses were reportedly active for a month, it was only recently that both company and police became aware of them.
This new type of digtal ransomware functions similarly to the real operation. Hackers penetrate important systems through the Sever Message Block protocol that can be found in any Microsoft Windows operating system.
Once they gain access to data, they claim these assets for themselves by encrypting them. The only way they are willing to leave data intact is by receiving ransom through BitCoin. If the request is left unmet, then they delete all the assets.
Authorities Erased 590 Fines That Were Issued Baed on the 55 Infected Traffic Cameras
Acting deputy commissioner Ross Guenther stated that most of the 55 infected traffic cameras are located in Melbourne. It is unclear yet if all of them fell victim to hackers. The illegal infiltration might have taken place between June 6 and 22.
Despite the fact that there is not yet a clear picture of the situation, the deputy decided to cancel all 590 fines for red light and speed irregularities. Even though not all of them were the work of hackers, the authorities want people to keep their trust in the system.
Honda was one of the latest injured parties by WannaCry. On Thursday, the company had to stop production at its plant near Tokyo as they discovered signs of this digital organization in their system. This decision might have saved them valuable data, but the one-day production arrest might be expensive for the carmaker.
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